The federal government has suspended the implementation of the concession arrangement for Kings College, Lagos, with the old boys’ association of the school for two weeks.
TheCable understands that the two-week suspension of the
implementation was part of resolutions reached at the end of an emergency
meeting held by Tunji Alausa, minister of education, with labour unions at the
ministry on Wednesday.
The parties at the meeting also agreed on the immediate
suspension of all industrial action over the King’s College concession.
It was also agreed that no staff would be victimised for
participating in any industrial action over the dispute.
Other agreements include redeployment of policemen from the
college premises, while a seven-man committee was set up to further discuss the
concession arrangement with the Kings College Old Students Association (KCOBA).
BACK STORY
In recent weeks, parents and teachers of the college have
staged protests against attempts by KCOBA to take over the school’s management
in furtherance of the arrangement reached with the government.
The tension grew on Monday when unity colleges officially
resumed and members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria
(ASCSN) declared industrial action, disrupting resumption across unity colleges
nationwide.
However, Alausa summoned an emergency meeting with the
workers’ union, including the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Following the meeting, the TUC urged ASCSN to suspend the
industrial action, while Alausa called on all staff and students of unity
colleges to resume the following day.
King’s College staff and parents, however, blocked members
of KCOBA from accessing the school for any activity.
The development degenerated into a fracas, prompting the
intervention of men of the Lagos police command, who have been deployed to the
school premises.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Alausa
said the government had invited the aggrieved unions for further discussions,
subject to the condition that ministry workers return to their offices and the
ministry gates were not blocked.
The minister said the proposed arrangement with KCOBA was
intended to mobilise additional resources to rehabilitate and modernise King’s
College while retaining government ownership of the institution.
He, however, said the government would not extend the
concession arrangement to other unity colleges.
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